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: cartilage
broadly
: tough cartilaginous, tendinous, or fibrous matter especially in table meats
Examples of gristle in a Sentence
a cheap piece of meat, full of gristle and fat
Recent Examples on the Web
Bites of a Reuben were interrupted by a glob of fatty gristle; the au jus in the Papa Eddie, a French dip with otherwise good brisket, was unbearably salty.
—Maura Judkis, Washington Post, 31 July 2024
Sichuanese jerky is all about the tendon and the gristle.
—Jiayang Fan, The New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2024
But what about those unavoidable cinematic stinkers that rankled and vexed, worthy of their own specifically notable ire as visually flavorless gristle or toxically soporific veneers masquerading as motion pictures?
—Nicholas Bell, SPIN, 5 Dec. 2023
Remove ham meat from bone, and add back to soup:
Remove ham bone and any gristle.
—Southern Living Test Kitchen, Southern Living, 24 Nov. 2023
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Word History
Etymology
Middle English gristil, from Old English gristle; akin to Middle Low German gristel gristle
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of gristle was
before the 12th century
Dictionary Entries Near gristle
Cite this Entry
“Gristle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gristle. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Kids Definition
gristle
noun
gris·tle
ˈgris-əl
: tough chewy matter in meat served as food that is composed usually of cartilage
gristly
adjective
ˈgris-(ə-)lē
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